Return of the Ex
by Amethyst Beloved
Summary: Two-shot. The Triles missing moments from 1406: (You Drive Me) Crazy from Tristan's perspective to understand his reaction towards Maya breaking in. Following a conversation with Zig, Tristan wonders if Cam has anything to do with Maya's behaviour. Flashback belongs to The Moron Scribe.
1. The Ex

When Tristan received Miles' ominous Facerange messages, he quickly called his boyfriend and asked if there was anything he could do. Though the brunet insisted that he would be fine by simply popping can of chicken noodle soup in the microwave, Tristan realized then and there that the only option was to come by and nurse him back to health. He insisted that his own homemade soup would be the ultimate weapon against the nastiest of head-colds. Miles didn't see anything wrong with that, and was very open to the idea of being tended to.

Miles left the French doors opened so Tristan entered without a problem. He was sure to lock them behind him. After dropping the grocery bag full of ingredients in the kitchen, he followed the sound of Miles' coughs and found him resting on the couch.

"Sweetie, I'm gonna make you some lunch now, okay?"

Miles opened his bloodshot eyes long to give Tristan a shallow nod before drifting back to sleep.

Tristan quickly familiarized himself with the kitchen as he found all the cooking utensils he needed for his recipe, and he started making lunch. He chopped up the vegetables and added them to the simmering pot along with the chunks of chicken that he had just finished cooking in a wok that was sitting on the opposite burner. The noodles were just about right and the soup was ready to be served.

When he placed the hot bowl on the serving tray, he heard voices. This was extremely suspicious because no one else was supposed to be home. He was not prepared when he saw Maya Matlin of all people kneeling in front of his man.

What was she doing there? Tristan's protective mode went into overdrive. He barked at her to stay away, and he was even more furious when it was revealed that she had the audacity to hack into Miles' private messages. Who knew what would have happened if Zig didn't swoop in to drag her out of there?

"Unbelievable!" moaned Miles as he tipped his head back and started to rub his temples. "First she runs around stuffing my mum's head with lies and now she breaks in to my house?"

Tristan set the lunch tray across Miles' lap before sitting beside him and letting out a huff.

"Classic Maya behaviour," scowled Tristan as he crossed his arms. "Always wanting what she can't have and not caring about ruining other people's happiness along the way. We'll definitely have to block her from your social media asap."

"To think that I actually let Maya pretend that she was into Zig while we were dating," Miles groaned, pressing his palm to his forehead. "I should have seen that as a sign."

"History has a way of repeating itself."

"Yeah... what was that story the about those two guys again?"

Tristan was just about ready to tell Miles all about how not only Maya went behind Tori's back and kissed Zig while he was in a relationship, but at the same time she was in the middle of dating...

All of a sudden another memory from his past crashed into the forefront of his consciousness. In that moment he was a niner again, sobbing in the halls of Degrassi, clutching a hysterical Tori for dear life.

"It's... it's not important. There's no need to get worked up about it. Eat your soup and we can watch a movie until you're ready to sleep again."

"But-"

Tristan put his finger to his lips.

"Shush. If you get yourself worked up, then your body will never recover. Now I'm going to wash the dishes and when I come back I expect you to finish your lunch. Then I'll give you a massage to sooth your aches and pains."

Miles gave him a lopsided grin that melted Tristan's heart as he made his way into the kitchen.

Was it possible that the reason Maya was acting so irrational had something to do with Cam? No, Tristan spent all summer with her and she made it clear that she had moved on and put the ordeal behind her.

The explanation to all of this was obvious. She couldn't let him be happy with Grant even when he begged her to keep it a secret, so clearly she wouldn't leave him in peace to be with her ex any time soon. This time Tristan would not back down.

He waited too long to have a real boyfriend, and now that he has one, he will fight tooth and nail to protect what was his.


	2. The Ghost

It was a few days after the break in.

Now that Miles had recovered from his head cold, he and Tristan were extra eager to make up for their lost make-out time due to those pesky germs. After a rather satisfying session of endless kissing and a hickey or two, the two curled up on the couch to watch a horror movie. Tristan was supposed to be concentrating on how nice it was to have Miles sitting on his lap and how good it felt to have his arms wrapped tightly around the brunet's waist. He was supposed to feel giddy from the way his boyfriend had his arms looped around his neck and face burrowed deep in his the collar during the scary parts. But Tristan couldn't get the conversation he had with Zig earlier that day at school out of his head.

_"Hey. Mind if I sit?"_

_"It's a free country, Novak."_

_"Look. You need to start talking to Maya again."_

_"I don't have anything else to say to her. Even if I did, she'd use it as an excuse to go all cray-cray stalker on my boyfriend, and nobody wants to watch you drag her off again like an episode of _Cops_."_

_"Tristan, come on. This is serious."_

_"Because she _seriously_ thinks she can win him back?"_

_"See, I'm not sure this is really about Miles."_

_"Who is it about, then…?"_

_"… do you even ever think about him?"_

_"A-about Miles? Of course I-"_

_"Don't do that, Tristan. You know who I'm talking about."_

_"I mean, how often am I *supposed* to think about him?"_

_"Maya really cares about you. If you want the truth, that's pretty much all she ever did. Just talk to her, okay?"_

Tristan didn't understand why he was letting Zig's words tumble relentlessly in his mind and plague his thoughts. Maya was acting out because she was regretting her decision of letting Miles go. Obvi. Because she got over Cam. A long time ago. God knows that he tried to wiggle out a conversation or two about that subject only to be brushed off. Why should all of this be bubbling up now instead of when it happened? It's not as if he wasn't there for her.

But _was_ he?

Tristan couldn't ignore the twang of guilt niggling at his conscious. He remembered very well being Tori's rock. Because his best friend was so expressive with her feelings, his nurturing side took its course and he knew exactly how to take care of her. She couldn't stop crying and would crumble at the slightest trigger. He had to admire her bravery for choosing to go travel to before Cam committed suicide as the topic of their "if I could go back in time" French oral and he was there for her the second she broke down. Under Tristan's care they healed together until they got past their grief. The next crisis in their friendship would be when she received the news that her family was moving away. All hail Skype for helping them stay in touch.

Maya on the other hand was an enigma that couldn't be cracked. She put on a brave face and was more than ready to move on, even if her initial plan of going wild at that party had her moving in the wrong direction and blew up in her face. But she took it all in stride and to his knowledge, she put the past firmly behind her. The only thing that has changed to cause her antics is that he was now dating Miles.

Unless there was something that she knew about his own boyfriend that he didn't?

A sharp nip at his neck brought him back to reality. He was face to face with a playfully annoyed Miles who clearly noticed that Tristan was distracted, and wanted to get his attention back. In response, the blond leaned forward to give him a warm, soft kiss. He knew that he was forgiven the moment he heard the boy moan in appreciation and shiver in delight.

Nah, Miles would never keep secrets from him. Ever since the fake steroids debacle, the two of them have gotten close as friends and they've shared many heartfelt conversations. And when their friendship turned into a relationship, it only made the bond stronger. There was no problem. Maya is the one who just has deal with _her_ problem of getting over her ex.

After all, he and Miles were happy.


End file.
